You Can't Cry Pretty
by LivForever
Summary: Things grow intense when a member of the team becomes the target of a serial killer. They race against the clock to save the life of their friend, but will they be too late? A story of blood, love, and secrets.
1. Chapter 1

It had stormed all night. The flash of the lightening through the curtains warned Emily to brace herself for the following clash of thunder. Mother Nature was certainly against her tonight as the migraine she had raged on. She felt the annoying ache in her eye in her last hour of work and she took some medicine in hopes of preventing it growing worse. Now, as she laid in bed, afraid to move even the slightest inch for fear of sharp pain exploding through her head, she wished she had taken the whole bottle.

With another strike of lightening and a clamor of thunder, Emily began crying. She hadn't slept in two days, which is likely what brought the migraine on in the first place. The last case had gotten to her and she was having a hard time getting the images out of her head. She knew she only had three hours left until her alarm would begin blaring, letting her know that it was time for a new case. There was always a new victim, always another death, always another chase. Sometimes she wished she would have chosen a different profession. Sometimes she thought about what it would be like to be a lawyer or a surgeon. Then she would laugh at herself because she knew that she was meant to be an agent, even if it didn't always feel that way.

Her alarm was going to sound in less than five minutes and she figured she would save herself the extra pain and turn it off. She climbed out of bed, the nausea in her stomach rolling, the pain shooting around like bullets in her brain. She took a moment to gain her composure before heading to the shower. Perhaps a hot, steamy shower would help relax her before the day. She kept the lights off and instead lit a lavender candle. Keeping the light to a minimum would certainly benefit her migraine, although she knew that the harsh fluorescent lights at the BAU would counteract any good measures she would take.

Once at the BAU, Emily felt slightly better. The medicine she took before walking out of her apartment had worked and now her migraine was more like a dull ache. It was certainly tolerable now. There was no pressing case that needed attention so Emily sat her desk, writing away at some paperwork she needed to complete for the week. Her friends were being abnormally quiet and when she glanced around the room she realized that all of them, too, were focused on writing reports to put with their closed cases. It was a slow a day, but she dared say that out loud.

Emily was nearly finished with her paperwork around lunch time and she was hoping they would get to leave early. A nap snuggled up on her couch with a big blanket and Sergio sounded like pure bliss, but when she saw Hotch walk out of his office with that tight look on his face, she knew her plans were about to be squashed.

"I need the whole team in the meeting room." No other explanation was given. Emily figured it was just another case, as would be the usual. So did Derek, who was sitting next to her munching on a bag of Cheetos. When the rest of the team had made their way in, Hotch closed the door. Even Penelope was left wondering what was going on because she hadn't received any files to prepare for them.

All eyes were on Hotch as he sighed. The vein in his temple seemed to be pulsing and because they all specialized in behavior, they knew that what Hotch had to say was not good.

"What is it?" Rossi asked.

"We have a problem," Hotch began. He started opening the white envelope that sat in front of him and began unloading pictures onto the table. The team was silent as they observed.

Emily felt a strange feeling in her gut. Her headache turned up a notch. "What is this?"

"These were delivered about fifteen minutes ago by a teenage boy who was given fifty bucks."

The pictures of Emily at the grocery store, getting into her car, driving down her block. There were pictures of her entering her apartment, walking into work, at the pharmacy. Somebody had peaked an interest in her.

"Why would anyone target Prentiss?" Penelope asked, "We haven't even worked a case where anyone would want revenge on her in a long time."

"Was there a note?" Derek chimed in.

"Yes," Hotch answered. "I had a love once. You took mine, now you will lose yours." Hotch read the crumbled piece of paper that had been tucked in the envelope with the pictures. He and Emily both knew that he was the target of the letter, but clearly Emily was the one in danger. Emily's cheeks turned pink with embarrassment because she knew they had to come clean now.

"That doesn't make any sense," Reid said, "Emily can't be her own love."

Hotch looked at Emily with a small smile on his face. Leave it to Reid to make him feel better in such a situation. "No," Hotch said, "which is why we should let you know that we're dating."

"I knew it," JJ smiled as she looked to her friend, "you've been happier and don't think I haven't noticed you two leaving the office together."

"Oh, I can't believe it!" Penelope squealed, "This is so awesome! You guys are the perfect badass couple. Wow, I am so happy for you two."

Emily smiled politely as a comment, but she was worried. They needed to focus on the case, not on her dating life. She listened to the rest of the team say their congratulations before she cleared her throat and spoke up. "So, what do we do?"

"Well, it's safe to say that you're staying here where you'll be safe," Hotch began. "The boy said he was given the envelope at the café down the block. JJ and Reid, go see if you can get any surveillance from around 9 this morning. Morgan, Rossi, we need to search Emily's house. A bug sweep, the surveillance from surrounding buildings, anything out of the ordinary."

"What? Hotch, come on, all of these photos are at least across the street. You really think he went into my apartment?"

"No," Hotch said, "but I want to be absolutely certain."

Emily sighed. She was never going to be able to take a nap at this rate, let alone get any sleep that night. When everybody fanned out to their tasks, Hotch and Emily were left alone at the table. Emily was staring at the photos, thinking of the times that she visited each place, and visualizing if she saw anyone out of the ordinary.

"You okay?"

Emily looked at him and she couldn't help but smile in the midst of the situation. She cared for Hotch deeply and his concern for her made her heart flutter. It felt good to be cared about. "I'm okay."

He rolled his eyes. "If I had a dollar for every time you said that…"

"I'm just tired," she admitted quietly. "I haven't been sleeping well since the last case and last night I had a migraine… I doubt I'll get any sleep anytime soon with the current target on my back."

"There's not much more we can do until he gives us more information," Hotch said, even though he knew Emily knew that. "Garcia is searching any recent cases we worked on together because the unsub had to have seen us interact at some point. Why don't you take a nap in my office? I promise to wake you as soon as we get new information."

The thought of being able to close her eyes sounded so appeasing, but Emily couldn't say yes. She couldn't lay around on the job while her friends searched for some crazy stalker. She would be mortified if any of her team walked in on her snoozing on her boss slash boyfriend's couch. She shook her head, "you know I won't say yes to that."

Hotch laughed, "worth a shot."

AN: Just a short beginning for my first Criminal Minds fanfic. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

The rain had cleared sometime midday but seemed to come back in full force as the afternoon faded away into the evening. The wind could be heard in the middle of the busy bullpen as it rattled the windows with force. Emily was sitting at the table in the conference room with takeout Chinese food in front of her. She was thankful that Morgan was kind enough to bring food back for everyone. She had been struggling to keep her eyes open all day, but the food seemed to be helping.

"Alright my lovelies." Garcia announced her presence as she entered the room carrying her laptop. She took a seat next to Hotch and started sharing the information she found. "I went back the past five years and searched unsubs that had been killed. I narrowed it down to twenty-two, but then I got to thinking that most of our unsubs are male. So, are we looking for a female?"

"It's true that males are more likely to be killers than females, but the stalking and picture taking would make sense if our unsub was a female," Reid added. "Did the boy who brought the letter give a description of who paid him?"

Hotch shook his head, "The unsub didn't talk to him, just placed the envelope, a letter with instructions, and the cash on his table."

"His table was right out of view of the cameras," JJ said, "so that's probably why he was chosen to deliver the envelope. He knew he wouldn't be seen on camera."

Emily was quiet as she listened to the discussion around her. This wasn't the first time she had been in a dangerous situation and she knew it was likely it wouldn't be the last. She had trust in her team that they would find the guy before any real harm happened. Besides, she wasn't too worried. Yes, seeing the pictures of herself completing her errands was startling, but if the unsub wanted to kill her, she would have attempted to already. She thought they were focusing on the wrong person.

"Wait a minute," Emily finally spoke, "I think we're going about this all wrong. We were focused on my apartment, and the places I went, but what about Hotch? The unsub has to know that we are together otherwise the pictures of me wouldn't make sense. What if she hasn't done anything physically yet because she's too busy following Hotch?"

"That would make sense," Morgan said, "The unsub had to have been watching you before he started watching Emily.

"Em, what's the earliest photo here?"

"Uh, this one." Emily pointed to the picture of her at the grocery store. "This was taken five days ago on Thursday and this one," she pointed to the one of her at the pharmacy, "was taken yesterday after I left here."

"Do you always go to the pharmacy on Monday's?" Reid was trying to look for any pattern he could think of.

"No," she answered, "I had a bad headache yesterday and I stopped for some Alieve."

"So the unsub had to be watching you as soon as you left here," Reid said, "we need watch our own security cameras."

"Do you think the unsub has been in the building?" Rossi asked, "because then we could have a problem."

"I don't think Emily is in immediate danger," Reid said, "the unsub wants to taunt Hotch and he'll do so for a while before acting on it. She wants to see him suffer like she did when her love was killed. Garcia, narrow your search to the men who were engaged when they died." Garcia typed away at her computer and narrowed it down to three suspects."

"I have a Melissa Rowe, Taylor Allen, and a Kennedy Smith," Garcia said, "their information is being sent to your tablets."

"Taylor Allen lives in the area," Rossi pointed out as he skimmed over the information, "we should start with her."

Hotch agreed. "Rossi, you and JJ head over to her address. See if she has an alibi for 8 PM yesterday."

"Reid, look the three cases involving these women and see if anything stands out to you. If they did crime together before the spouse is more likely to be involved in crime now." Reid nodded and took his file folders back to his desk to get started.

"I'll be in front of the computer where I work best," Garcia said as she too packed her items and left the room.

"If the unsub is following Emily from work," Morgan said, "maybe we should have her leave and see who follows her."

"It's risky," Hotch said.

"Hotch—"

"Emily, at this point the unsub knows we're looking for her. She won't take the risk to follow you home from work anymore."

"It can't hurt to try," she argued.

"I'll be with her," Morgan said, "I'll drive by her place and circle back and see if anyone follows."

"Alright," Hotch agreed, "the sooner we figure out who this is, the sooner Emily can get some rest."

Emily hated that Hotch was calling her out, but she knew that Morgan likely knew anyway. He was her best friend and could always read her like an open book. "Let's go."

In the car, Morgan was driving and Emily was riding in the passenger's seat as usual. She was constantly checking the mirrors to see if anyone was tailing them.

"So," Derek said, "you and Hotch."

Emily shot him a playful side glance. "Yes," she said, "for almost five months now."

"No wonder you both have seemed happier here lately," he said, "I think you suit each other well."

Emily smiled. She thought her and Hotch suited each other, too. They were always in sync and whatever strengths she lacked, Hotch seemed to have. He was always there when she needed someone to vent to because he always understood. He always knew what to say to make her feel better. He also knew how to cook a good meal which was definitely an area Emily was lacking in.

"You think I'm really in danger?"

Derek shrugged. "I don't know. It could have just been a scare tactic," he said, "You know how people always say they'll get revenge."

Emily mumbled in agreeance. They heard it plenty of times before.

As they pulled onto Emily's street, Emily looked to her apartment building and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The rain was coming down pretty heavily and most people chose to stay inside. Then she looked to the front porch. "Pull over!" Derek looked to his right to see the bloody body lying on the front porch. Emily hopped out of the car and ran to the body, tears pooling in her eyes. She knew that body… the cold, lifeless body… She scooped the body into her arms, knowing that she was contaminating the scene. "Mom," she cried as tears cascaded down her cheeks and onto her mother's shirt.

Derek was quickly behind her, recognizing the woman to be Emily's mother. He placed his hand on Emily's back to offer any sense of comfort he could. He knew they weren't close, but losing a parent was hard on anyone, let alone seeing them shot dead on your front porch. Derek scanned the area to look for a potential suspect, but the area was clear. He stepped off the porch to give Emily some privacy as he pulled out his cell phone.

"Hotch," he said, "this case just got more serious. Emily's mother has been shot just outside of her apartment."

"I'm on my way."


	3. Chapter 3

Emily sat in the passenger's seat with Hotch standing in front of her. He held an umbrella over him and overlapped it with the roof of the SUV so neither of them would get wet. Emily was upset and confused and her headache seemed to be making its way back with a vengeance. The medical examiner had already taken the body to the examination office and Derek was trying to figure out the crime scene. The rain had washed away any evidence they might have had, but from the remaining blood spatter it looked like her mother had been killed right there on the spot, which left Derek wondering what her mother was doing at her house. The last time they had seen each other was almost five years ago.

"This doesn't make sense," Emily told Hotch, "If the unsub wanted to target your loved ones, why would he kill my mother? And if the unsub really meant they were after my loved ones, my mother shouldn't have been his first choice. My mother and I weren't close and everybody knows that."

"We need to look at all the evidence again," Hotch said, "but I want to make sure you're alright." He knew she would say she was, it was her way of coping with life. Emily Prentiss; always fine. He expected the words that would come out of her mouth; had heard them too many times before. However her answer shocked him.

"I will be when we nail the son of the bitch."

Hotch offered her somewhat of a smile and was just about to hug her before Derek rejoined them. He settled for a quick squeeze of her hand instead.

"You weren't expecting your mother to visit?" Derek asked.

Emily looked up at him with her glossy eyes. It was a mixture of exhaustion and dried tears. She felt her heartbeat quicken. "I was but, not until next week."

"Looks like she decided to surprise you early."

"That means you two talked," Hotch pointed out, "what was she visiting for?"

Emily just stared at Hotch. She had thought about all of the ways she would tell him. She thought about how the team would treat her differently; how her life would change so drastically. "I didn't want to tell you like this," she whispered as her tears began falling for the second time that day.

"Emily, you can tell me anything."

"I'm pregnant." She blurted out. She watched Hotch's face for fear of a fake reaction but all she saw was his genuine smile and the love in his eyes.

"That's wonderful news," Hotch said, "this is great news! We are going to have a baby." He leaned into the car and planted his lips against hers, reveling in the physical contact that he was able to have with her. He didn't care who saw, he was going to tell the love of his life that he was beyond thrilled.

"Congratulations," Derek smiled, "I'm always glad to be an uncle."

"I was scared to tell you," Emily admitted, "I mean, I'm thirty-eight, that's not exactly a spring chicken. We haven't really talked about having kids together and I just wasn't sure if you would be happy."

"Of course I'm happy," he said. "Emily, I love you and I love the baby already."

"This changes things," Derek interrupted and Emily looked to him with the death glare that only she could manage. "Not about the job," he added when he saw her hostility, "about the case." He watched her take a deep breath. "Maybe Hotch was never the target. Maybe you were the target and the baby is what the unsub was talking about."

Emily's day just couldn't get any worse. First somebody was after her, then they were after Hotch, then they were after her again, and now they were after her unborn child? She was ready to crawl into the fetal position and just sleep the rest of the year away. Surely the team could handle the case without her.

"Who else knows you're expecting?" Derek asked.

"Nobody," she said, "the only person who knew was my mother and I told her over the phone about a week ago. The plan was for her to fly in next Friday so she could be here when I told everyone."

Hotch squeezed Emily's hand again to let her know that he was there for her. He knew she would carry that brave façade as long as they were in front of the others, but he could see that she was growing more vulnerable by the minute.

"We need to gather the team and rethink this from the beginning," Hotch said, "Derek, you mind if Emily rides with me?"

Derek just shook his head with the famous glowing smirk on his face. "Of course not. I'll call the others and have them meet us back in the conference room."

"I really am happy," Hotch said as he brought the SUV to life and began driving back to the BAU.

"I know," Emily said. She leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes. For the moment, she felt like everything was alright in the world. Knowing that there was a tiny baby growing inside of her and that Aaron was by her side… she would have never imagined her life ending up this way.

"I'm just worried," he added, "I want you to be safe. Especially now that I know you're carrying our baby… I know you can take care of yourself, but you're exhausted."

"That's an understatement." She blew out a puff of air and her bangs went flying.

"After the conference, please just try to take a cat nap in my office. I won't let you sleep longer than an hour and if we have any major discoveries, I promise to wake you." He was being cautious because he knew that Emily would hate for the team to walk on eggshells around her just because she was pregnant. She was still a profiler and she was the center of their current investigation, so he knew there was no chance of her sitting this one out.

"Alright," she said reluctantly, "no longer than an hour."

When they pulled to a red light, Aaron shocked Emily by leaning across the middle section and planting a loving kiss right on her lips. He pulled away slowly, gazing in her eyes for what felt like several minutes. "You're going to be a mom."

Emily smiled, "Crazy, right?"

"No," he replied, "it's perfect."

After Emily had filled the team in on her exciting news, they laid all of the new information out on the table. If Emily's mother was the only person she told about her pregnancy, then maybe her mother mentioned it to someone else. It wasn't like they could ask her. Reid decided to revisit the photographs and noticed that all of the shots were focused on Emily's stomach, a sure sign that the unsub was referring to the baby. Rossi noted that they were definitely looking for a female unsub now and Garcia went back to the computer to search for cases within the last ten years that involved any pregnant women or men who were expecting to be fathers. If they could narrow those numbers down, that would give them a new start. In the meantime, it was getting late and there wasn't much else the team could do until they had more information. There was, however, no way they were going home and leaving the case like it was. Garcia was busy typing away at her keyboard and the rest of the team was sorting through their own theories.

Emily had finally dragged herself into Hotch's office and pulled out a blanket and a pillow she knew he kept in one of his drawers for long nights. She settled onto the leather sofa and cuddled into the woolen blanket. Aaron had kissed her gently before leaving her be and telling her to please get some rest so she would feel better.

Now she was alone for the first time all day and all of her emotions seemed to be spilling out at once. Her mother had just been shot because of her. Aaron knew that he was going to be a father. She had admitted that she was going to be a mother. Everything seemed to be happening so fast and Emily felt like she was stuck on a never ending merry-go-round. Her eyes closed as she thought about all of the people her mother could have told, but she knew it was unlikely that any of them even knew about her, let alone her profession. She was sure her mother didn't speak of her often. It was easier that way.

There was a clock on the wall above the couch that was ticking with the passing seconds and Emily forced herself to focus on the sound. If she focused her mind on the constant ticking, maybe she could clear her mind just long enough to fall asleep. Even the thought of one measly hour of sleep sounded like pure bliss after the day she had been having. She counted one hundred and twenty ticks before her body finally succumbed to a peaceful sleep.

In the bullpen, Garcia was filling the rest of the team in on the information she found. "It's really hard to find pregnant spouses of any unsubs we might have had," she said, "because most of them weren't married so they wouldn't be matched in any databases unless I go through all sorts of connections that none of us have time for. So, I decided to take a different route and looked at Elizabeth's phone records." Garcia pulled the call log information up on her tablet and pointed to the one number that popped up several times. "Emily's mom called this number often and it spans over several years. Sometimes they had long conversations and sometimes they were short. She called this number right after she received Emily's phone call last week telling her about the pregnancy."

"Did you get a trace on the number?" JJ asked.

Garcia offered her a simple, "Duh." How could JJ be so silly to think she wouldn't have traced the number? "The number belongs to an Erin Cruz. I ran that name through every database I could think of and came up with nothing. There's no address, no family relations, nada. Literally, the only thing I could find was the phone number."

"Could it have been a lover?" Reid asked, "If the calls span a timeframe of several years, that could certainly be a possibility."

"Especially if the lover worked with Emily's mom," Rossi added, "they would both know how to keep their name off of any databases."

"Are we saying that Erin Cruz killed Elizabeth?" JJ asked, "Because why would she kill her own love?"

Derek shrugged, "Maybe she was mad that Elizabeth was flying to the states and she blamed Emily for it. They get in a fight because Elizabeth tells her she's leaving for a while and that's what prompts her to leave earlier. Prentiss said her mother wasn't due to arrive until next Friday."

"Garcia, good work," Hotch said, "keep digging and see if you kind find anything on Erin. Were there any other phone calls dialed out from Elizabeth's phone after Emily's phone call?"

"There were two," she answered, "one was to a co-worker whom she has lunch with once a week and another was to a psychiatric facility. I called them and all they could tell me over the phone was that the call was related to a case Elizabeth had been working on."

"Does Erin have any children?"

"No sir," Garcia answered, "at least none that I could find. It's really weird. She has no birth records, no hospital records, nothing. It's like someone purposely hid all of her information."

"What if she's using an alias?" Reid asked, "We should call the phone company that she goes through. Most companies in Europe require an ID in order to purchase a phone plan. If she's had the same number for years it's likely they'll have her ID on record. That will at least give us a picture."

Hotch agreed and told Reid to get on the phone with the company and see how far they could get with an ID.

"Is she okay?" Garcia asked when the group grew silent. She looked to Hotch's office where the overhead lights were turned off but the glow of the desk lamp remained.

"She will be," Hotch said, "as soon as we figure out what's going on with this case."

"I'll keep searching for this Erin Cruz," Garcia replied, "I'll let you know what I find."

"What about Emily's doctor?" JJ asked, "If she confirmed her pregnancy with her OB then her doctor knows as well as any nurses that handled her case. If her information is on file at her doctor's office then somebody could have hacked the system to steal her information. They would have gotten her address that way too," she added. "The unsub probably didn't follow Emily all the way home from the pharmacy because Emily would have caught on to that. She probably already knew her address."

"I don't know if she's seen her doctor yet," Hotch said, "we haven't really had time to discuss any details. I can ask her, but-

"Don't wake her just yet." Rossi saved him the trouble of having to make himself look like the boyfriend in front of the team. "We won't be able to get any information from the doctor's office until tomorrow anyway. Let her rest."

Hotch was thankful that Rossi was damn good at profiling people and also thankful that he was such a great friend. He smiled his appreciation. "The best thing we can do right now is focus on Erin Cruz. The M.E. should have her report finished tomorrow and we will have more information then. Until then, you should all go home. Get some rest."

"Like hell," Derek said, "I'm not leaving when one of my baby girl's is in trouble."

"If Prentiss heard you say that, she would kick your ass," JJ chided.

Derek rolled his eyes. "I'm not going anywhere, Hotch. I can sleep at my desk."

"Me too," Spencer added, even though he was across the room still on hold with the phone company.

"It's a slumber party," Rossi joked.

"Will and Henry are out of town at his dad's for the weekend," JJ added, "so it's going to be a full house here."

"Alright then," Hotch said, "we will regather in the conference room at eight. I'll be in my office."

AN: there's a small trailer for this fic if you type in (YT) /watch?v=cqBAuiYrqow. I didn't make the trailer, but I do think my friend did a great job with it! Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Hotch was sitting at his desk, staring at the same piece of paper he had looked over hundreds of times already. He wasn't reading the information anymore, simply scanning his eyes across the page in hopes that something new would catch his eye, something that would help figure out who was targeting Emily. He knew he would be tired in the morning if he didn't get some rest, but he could handle it. He was more concerned for Emily. She just lost her mother and she hadn't grieved. Sure, they weren't close, but grieving is a process, and clearly Emily had been working on her relationship with her mother at least a little bit, otherwise the phone call about the pregnancy would never have happened. Maybe then Emily wouldn't be in harm's way… Hotch tossed the pen he had been holding to the table and sighed, bringing his hands to his face and cupping his eyes, wiping away the tinge of sleep that dared gather there.

"Aaron?"

Her voice startled her. She had been snoring lightly for several hours now and he must have grown accustomed to it that he didn't realize the snoring had stopped. "I'm here."

"It's been over an hour."

"The team is resting," he offered, "it's a sleepover."

Emily couldn't help but smile. The team was a family and she should have known that they would work nonstop until they figured the whole mess out. "You should rest too. There's room over here."

"As tempting as that is, I think we would be a little cramped."

Emily finally opened her eyes and left the soft glow of the desk lamp highlight Aaron's face. She could see the worry etched into his forehead, the wrinkle lines that only grew more prominent with his age. Her heart felt warm as she thought about their future together. She thought of Aaron and Jack teaching the new baby to play soccer and Jack teaching his new sibling all the secrets to stay out of trouble. She thought about finally sharing a house together and being able to go to sleep with Aaron next to her and him still be there when she woke up in the morning. For the first time in a long time, she was happy about her future.

She was soon pulled out of her thoughts when Aaron asked her if she knew of an Erin Cruz.

"Erin Cruz? I don't think so. Should I?"

Aaron shook his head. "Garcia ran your mother's call logs and she called the same number quite often. The number belongs to an Erin Cruz, but that's all we know. She was unable to find any other information about this person. Reid tried to get a picture through the phone company, but the phone was a part of a plan and there was no ID requirement."

"My mom never mentioned the name to me, but we were still working on mending our relationship. She probably wouldn't tell me the intimate details of her life. Are you thinking she was a lover?"

"I don't know," Aaron answered, "It's concerning that there's no information available about her. Garcia can find information on anyone, so why not this Erin Cruz?"

"Why would she want to hurt my baby?" Emily had tried to keep her voice strong, but this was just her and Aaron. Her and the one person she loved more than anything. She didn't want to pretend in front of him. Her voice cracked as she spoke, letting her emotions spill out in between them.

Aaron got up from his desk and made his way to the couch, maneuvering himself so he could lay behind Emily. It was a tight squeeze, but he made it work. He wrapped his arm around Emily and pulled her tight to his chest. He planted a gentle kiss in her hair before whispering, "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

"We were trying to fix out relationship," Emily said quietly and Aaron knew she was talking about her mother. "We had been talking on the phone more and just talking about our lives. She seemed genuinely excited to be a grandma…" Her voice cracked again and Aaron felt one of her tears fall on his hand. "I can't help but think that she was killed because of me."

"Don't," Aaron said sternly, "Don't go there. None of this is your fault. Your mother was in the wrong place at the wrong time and you couldn't have known that any of this would happen." He could feel her erratic breathing against him and wished more than anything to take away her pain. His heart shattered to pieces when she let out a stifled sob. He turned her over so she was facing him and pulled her even closer, letting her cry into his chest. He placed his lips at the crown of her head and planted gentle kisses, anything to sooth her anguish. He ran his hands through her hair, letting her know that he was there for her and wasn't going anywhere.

"Do you think anyone in the BAU ever gets a happy ending?"

He thought about it for a moment. It was true that most of them had little family, whether it be that they had little family before and that's why they joined, or be it that they had lost family while working long hours with dangerous murderers. It was hard to think of his team and the constant uphill battles they were fighting. "JJ," he finally said, "JJ found her happy ending. JJ goes home every night to Will and Henry and every morning she wakes up to them. She knows that no matter what happens, her son will always be loved and safe. Her marriage works because Will knows what her job is like. Just like we will work because we know what dating in this job entails."

"Dating?" Leave it to Emily to only catch that word out of the entire spiel he just rambled. Aaron scoffed.

"Actually, I was going to say that's why our marriage will work too, but I wanted to ask you in a better way."

Emily pulled her head away from his chest and looked him dead in the eyes. He could see the dried tear tracks on her face and the makeup that had smeared due to sleep and he still thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. "Are you proposing?"

"Yes," he said, hoping that she wouldn't be upset with the way he chose to do it. "Em, I just know that you're all I think about. When we aren't together, I think about what you're doing, about if you're singing in the shower, if you're having a good day, if you're having a headache… I bought a ring two months ago, so I don't want you to think I'm just asking because of the baby. I just… now seemed like a good time to tell you because I want you to know that you and I are in this together, as cheesy as that may seem."

Emily was crying again, but this time for far better reasons. She smiled through her tears as she shook her head in awe of him. "I love you," she said before leaning in for a kiss that felt different from all the previous ones. She felt it deep in her heart. The love she had for this man was unlike anything she had ever felt before, and yes, it scared her, it scared the hell out of her, but she wasn't going to let that stop her.

They were pulled away from the moment when Derek knocked on the door. "I hate to interrupt, but we've got something." Emily and Aaron could see the seriousness of his face and quickly followed him to join the rest of the team in the conference room.


	5. Chapter 5

When Emily and Aaron entered the conference room, the rest of the team was already seated and there was an unknown guest among them. An old man with a balding head of gray hair and bifocals. He sat with a hunch in his back and straight look on his face.

"This is Global Ambassador Johnathan Phillips. He was your mother's boss," Derek announced.

"You look just like her," Johnathan said with small, crooked smile.

Emily swallowed the lump in her throat before taking one of the empty seats between Reid and JJ. "What are you doing here, Sir?"

"Someone leaked it to the media that a global ambassador was shot dead on her daughter's doorsteps. Word travels fast, especially with the tension among nations in current relations. I hopped on a plane as soon as I could. I know it's very early in the morning, but I had a feeling you would still be here."

Emily still wasn't sure what the global ambassador was doing sitting in the conference room at two in the morning. If he wanted to pay his respects, he could have waited until the funeral.

"Your mother had a box of things that was to be given to you in the chance that she died. She kept it under her desk at work. I had clear instructions to deliver it as soon as possible and I figured there might be something in here that could help you find her killer." Johnathan pushed the box toward Emily. She stared at it, not moving to open it. It was a hefty box, not small, but not large either. She figured it would be filled with old pictures or maybe some of Emily's baby stuff. Honestly she wasn't sure that her mother had that many personal belongings period.

"Mr. Phillips," Hotch began, "Do you know if Elizabeth was friends with anyone by the name of Erin Cruz?"

Johnathan thought about it for a moment, but shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't. Elizabeth was a very private person and she was dedicated to her work. She didn't spend much time out of the duties of her job."

"Was Elizabeth working on any high profile political cases?" Reid questioned.

"No," Johnathan answered, "she wasn't on any current cases. I'm sorry I can't be more of help, but I must get back to my office. The media is already hounding us and I suspect they will be hounding you all as soon as daylight breaks."

"Thank you, Mr. Phillips," Emily offered as she stood to shake his hand. He nodded his respects and then left the room, followed by Reid who had a few more questions he wanted answers for.

"We will give you some privacy," JJ said, hinting to the others to clear the room.

Emily sat back down in her chair and stared at the box. Aaron was seated next to her, but he kept his distance. He figured she would want some privacy, but would still want him by her side. She reached for the flaps and pulled them out, revealing several loose photos thrown haphazardly into a pile. "These are just pictures of my childhood." Emily took a handful of photos out of the box and started looking through them. There were pictures she had seen before, some of them she remembered faintly, some of them she had no memory of at all.

Emily had been in control of her emotions through all the photos of her as a small child until she came to one of her mother holding her on her fourth birthday. It had been a Winnie the Pooh theme and Emily remembered keeping the figurines off the cake when the party was over. She felt the burning in the back of her throat as she tried to fight her tears, but when she felt Aaron's hand on her shoulder, she couldn't hold them back any longer. "I know we weren't close," Emily cried, "but you don't just get over losing your mother. No matter the situation and no matter how old you are." She gently tossed the stack of photos back into the box and leaned into Aaron's hug. He placed his lips against the crown of her hair as his mind was reeling. How anyone could target someone so good, someone who just wanted the best for everyone, he had no clue, but he was damned sure they would pay for making Emily hurt like this.

In the bullpen, Reid had just gotten back from walking Mr. Phillips out. He gathered the group around Derek's desk and started spilling the new information. "Guys, Elizabeth wasn't working on any cases because two weeks ago she took use of the medical family leave act. She claimed that her daughter was going through some health issues and she needed to be with her."

"That doesn't make any sense," Rossi said, "Emily is fine and she didn't mention the pregnancy to her mother until last week."

"Here's what else doesn't make any sense," Garcia said, entering the group chat at just the perfect time. She sat her laptop down on Derek's desk and pointed to the numbers. "I looked into the finances of the psychiatric facility that Elizabeth frequently called. She makes a payment of seven hundred dollars there every month, like clockwork. It doesn't say what the money is for and I can't get the hospital to return my calls."

"Are we thinking she was a patient?" JJ asked.

"The payments go back at least eighteen years, but before that they were all paper and pen."

JJ was about to share her own thoughts with the group when they all turned their attention to Emily running out of the conference room and toward the restroom with her hand covering her mouth. Aaron was behind her, but Garcia volunteered to go in instead. The rest of the team would fill Hotch in.

"Em?" Garcia stood outside of the only closed bathroom stall. Of course there was nobody else there. It was nearly three in the morning. "Are you alright?" She cringed as she heard Emily heaving into the toilet followed by the flushing. She leaned against the sink until the heaving stopped and Emily finally came out of the stall. Garcia had seen Emily tired before, hell with their job they were lucky to get a night's worth of sleep, but this was different. The dark circles under Emily's eyes were beginning to show and the paleness of her face worried Garcia to her core. "Sweetie, you do not look well."

Emily walked to the sink and placed her hands down for support. She looked into the mirror and hated that she was crying yet again. She looked to her friend, her friend who was always such a positive, glittering light in a dark and cruel world. "How can I bring a baby into this awful world?"

"Oh, sweetie…"

Emily sniffed. "It's supposed to be such a happy time and a time of picking out nursery colors and baby names," she whispered, "not trying to find your mother's killer and the killer who is after you next."

"None of us are going to let that happen," Garcia promised, "you know that."

"I know. I just—

Emily could have collapsed at the thunderous sounds of yelling from the bullpen followed by shots fired. She ran to the door and fought hard against Garcia who stood her ground. She was not about to let her friend go out there in the middle of a bullet blaze. She had to believe that her friends and co-workers could stand their ground because she was terrified, too.

"I'm not letting you go out there," Garcia whispered through clenched teeth. "Emily, stop! Look at me!"

There was still yelling going on outside of the bathroom walls but they were no longer paying attention. Emily was looking at Garcia and trying to calm her breathing. "Derek, Hotch, Reid, Rossi, and JJ are the best there is. They can handle it."

Emily nodded, needing more than anything to trust the words coming out of Garcia's mouth. She walked away from the door and followed Garcia to the last stall. If anyone went searching, they were better off not standing in the middle of the room. They both remained silent, straining their ears to listen to what was being said.

"Please, help me," Emily had heard. The voice sounded like that of a young man, certainly somebody who sounded scared.

"Who did this to you?" She closed her eyes tight as she heard Aaron's voice. That meant he was unharmed.

"Please," the young voice said again, "get this off of me." Her eyes snapped open at that and she turned to Garcia. "A bomb."

Garcia swallowed heavily. If tonight was her last night on Earth, she had a lot of things she needed to say.

"Garcia, I have to go out there. I can defuse the bomb, I promise. If I stay here, we can all die."

Garcia didn't know what to do. Emily had defused her share of bombs before, but she wouldn't be able to live with herself if Emily went out there and got hurt. Especially now that she was carrying a baby. "Garcia, they need my help."

"Okay," she whispered. "Emily Prentiss, you can do this." She said it to reassure Emily and for herself, too.

Emily nodded. She slowly walked out of the restroom and saw her team standing in position with their weapons drawn. The young boy looked about nineteen or twenty and his back was to her. The team saw her walking out and Aaron was pleading with his eyes for her to please leave while she could.

"Did a man do this to you?" Reid asked the boy.

He shook his head no. "A woman. S-she said if I d-didn't do this that she would k-kill my mom."

"We're going to defuse the bomb," Derek said. He knew how Emily worked better than anyone and unlike Hotch, he didn't have the emotional attachment to cloud his judgement of her. "My friend Emily is behind you and she wants to help you."

The boy turned around and Emily showed him her hands in the air. "I just need to take a look at the wires," she said as she slowly approached him. "I'm going to get us both out of here, okay?"

The boy nodded, tears streaming down his cheeks. She saw the timer counting down from two minutes as she observed the wires wrapped around his body. There were more than usual, surely some kind of cruel trick, but Emily was smart. "Okay," she said to the boy, "I need you to trust me."

The boy nodded, wanting more than anything for Emily to get him the hell out of there and to stop the beeping. They had thirty-five seconds left. She could feel the sweat forming on her upper lip in angst. She reached to the nearest desk and grabbed a pair of scissors and not wasting anymore time, clipped the blue wire. The beeping stopped.

Sounds of relief filled the room as everyone could finally breathe. Garcia finally rejoined the team as she had been watching from just around the corner. The team lowered their weapons and Hotch started serving orders. "Reid, tell door security to lock all of the entrances. Nobody gets into this building without being cleared by me. Mogan, Rossi, help him get the chains off and take him into the conference room. Garcia, can you pull all video footage from this entire street?"

"I'm on it, Sir."

"JJ, the press is already outside and the sun isn't even up yet."

"I'm on it."

Hotch was just about to tell Reid to help Morgan and Rossi, but when he turned around Reid had moved from his position by his desk to Emily's side. Emily had nearly fainted and Reid had noticed the signs and caught her just in time. "I've got you," Reid said as he helped Emily to a chair. Aaron was by her side in seconds.

"I'll help Morgan and Rossi," Reid said as he excused himself, leaving Aaron and Emily alone.

"Maybe we should put you in a hotel," Aaron said gently, knowing that Emily would protest. "This stress is taking a toll on you. I just want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fi—

"Emily Prentiss I swear if you tell me you're fine…"

Emily sighed. "Okay," she whispered, "I'm not fine." She looked into his eyes as he kneeled in front of her. "I'm scared," she admitted. "I can't figure out why anybody would be targeting me. This feels different than a random fixated unsub. It feels… more personal."

"All the more reason that you should be in a hotel, resting, with a protective detail outside of your door."

"I feel safe with you guys."

"The sun is already out," Aaron smiled, "you can stay today, but tonight we are going back to my place. Everyone needs to rest up so we can all have clear heads when we come back."

"Fine."

In the conference room, Rossi and Morgan had managed to untangle all the wires around the young boy and Reid had given him a glass of water and a cell phone to call his mother. She had never been in harm's way and was on her way now to take him home.

"Can you tell us exactly how this all happened?" Rossi asked as they were all seated at the table.

The boy nodded. "I was leaving my friend's house around midnight. We play basketball every week about this time. I was about a block away from my house when a woman in a black car pulled up next to me. She told me to get in the car or she would kill my mom."

"Can you describe what she looked like?"

The boy nodded. "She had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. Really light skin. It was dark, but she had to turn the overhead light on when she was piecing the bomb together."

"Did she take you anywhere?"

"She drove straight here," the boy answered. "She said that Emily Prentiss needed to learn a lesson. A lesson where you shouldn't take people away from their family."

Reid glanced to Rossi and Morgan and saw the same looks of uncertainty on their faces. If there was any hesitation before that Emily wasn't the main target, there wasn't anymore.

"Did she say anything else?"

"She said that I wouldn't be hurt because somebody would save me." The boy looked down at his shaking hands. "She said that the real crime was in the box."

"In the box?" Rossi asked.

The boy shrugged, "she never said anything else."

"The box," Reid repeated with his mind thinking of all the possibilities. "The box that Mr. Phillips gave Emily." Reid was out of the room in seconds. "Hotch!" He ran to Emily's side and lifted her wrist to check her heart rate.

"Reid, what are you doing?"

"We need to get you to a hospital."

"What's going on?" Hotch asked.

"The box Mr. Phillip brought is evidence," Reid explained, "it needs to be quarantined because my guess is there was poison on the photos and my second guess is that Mr. Phillips wasn't your mother's boss. We really need to get you to a hospital."

"I'll drive." Hotch helped Emily to her feet and although she felt mostly fine, she was still feeling nauseous and exhausted. She figured it was just from the events of the past few days. She didn't really feel like she had been poisoned...

"We have to go out the back," Hotch said, "JJ is fighting off the media out front."

"Guys, really, I feel fine," Emily protested.

"It was most likely amunoghlehisten," Reid said. "It's a powder that wouldn't be airborne and would only harm the person who touched the pictures. Symptoms include vomiting, dizziness, seizures, and blood clotting. You've experienced two of the symptoms so far."

Emily sighed, "Yes and those two are also symptoms of pregnancy."

"I would rather be certain than be sorry," Reid said as opened the door for Emily to get in the front seat. He closed it behind her and hopped into the back. "I just want to make sure that you and the baby are safe. There's a treatment that includes a round of IV's and maybe a twenty-four hour stay for observation, but Em, please trust me on this."

Emily rolled her eyes and let her head fall back against the headrest. "I do trust you, Reid."

Hotch turned his sirens on to get to the hospital faster and although he was keeping a straight face, his blood was boiling. Emily had been in danger and so had their baby and he would be damned if this unsub continued to play them like some kind of a game. He was plotting all of the ways he could kill the unsub without being targeted by Internal Affairs.

Reid was repeating the conversation with the young boy over and over in his head to see if he could find any pieces they were missing when his cell phone started buzzing. "Reid."

"Hey, it's Morgan. You were right. There's a powder covering the pictures that are on the top of the box. Is Emily alright?"

"She will be," Reid said, "Morgan, you have siblings, right?"

"Yeah, two sisters," Derek answered, unsure of where the kid was going with his line of questioning.

"You would be upset if one of them received more attention than you, right?"

Now Derek understood where the kid was headed. "You think Elizabeth had another child?"

"Yes," Reid answered. He didn't want to say much in font of Emily because he wanted to keep her out of the investigation as much as possible. He wanted to protect her from whatever bastard insisted on hunting her down.

"And you think we should start with the patients at the psychiatric facility?"

"Yes," Reid said, "Let me know what you find." He hung up his phone and put it back in his pocket. It was only a hunch that Elizabeth could have another child, but a hunch was all they had right now.

"Are you still feeling okay, Emily?"

Aaron kept stealing side glances to see how Emily was doing, but he was also trying to keep them from having a car crash at the speed he was traveling. She had been in the same position for the entire ride with her head against the headrest and her lips pressed tight together. "I'm feeling really nauseous again," she admitted, "and maybe a little lightheaded."

"We're almost there," Aaron promised. "We're almost there."


	6. Chapter 6

Emily was tired. The IV dripping into her arm had made her nausea go away, but the exhaustion had only gotten worse. She fought to keep her eyes open and Aaron watched as she would close them for a few seconds and quickly pop them back open. He knew she was afraid that she would miss something if she let herself rest.

"You know, our baby will have really dark hair and dark eyes," Emily whispered. She had been thinking about the tiny baby growing in her stomach and it made her incredibly happy to know that she would be bringing a new human into the world. "They'll also be incredibly stubborn and badass."

Aaron chuckled as he reached for her hand and gave it a loving squeeze. He hated seeing her like this. He hated seeing her stressed out and lying in a hospital bed because of their job. He knew the job was dangerous and he knew that her pregnancy didn't change the fact that she was an agent, but it still didn't lessen his worry. He always worried about her safety. "As long as they have your smile." Aaron was expecting his comment to bring that beautiful smile to Emily's face, but instead he saw her eyes watering. "What's wrong?" He cupped his hand to her cheek and wiped the lone tear away with his thumb.

"I don't even know why I'm crying," she laughed.

Aaron couldn't help but laugh along. He didn't want to be the one to blame the pregnancy hormones for making her emotions so uncontrollable, but he knew that was likely the case. Along with the lack of sleep and the danger of someone going after her…

"Please get some rest," he whispered as he pulled his hand away and brought it back down to her hand. "I'll be right here."

Emily didn't say anything, but she closed her eyes and finally stopped fighting the sleep.

Reid had been outside hoping for some fresh air and instead was greeted with a raging thunderstorm. He stood under the covering of the entrance and pulled out his phone. He wanted to know if Derek and the rest of the team had found out anything about Elizabeth having another child.

"You're not going to believe this," Derek told him. "Garcia did some more digging. It turns out, Elizabeth does have another child. She gave birth in 1978 and again in 1980. The baby's name is Erin."

"This changes everything," Reid said, "Erin is after Emily because Emily had the life she wanted. She must be the patient at the hospital and if that's the case, the hospital should have filed for a missing patient. Garcia said Elizabeth paid for this month already, there's no way they would have let Erin out, especially after all of these years."

"Which is why Elizabeth came to town earlier than Emily expected," Derek said, "maybe she was finally going to tell Emily she had a sister."

"Or warn her."

Derek hung up with Reid and turned to Rossi who had just finished his conversation with Johnathan. It turns out that Johnathan Phillips was who he said he was and Elizabeth had instructed him to deliver the box in wake of her death. However, Johnathan had failed to realize that they had a break in about a week prior and nothing was taken, but they went back and watched security footage. Sure enough, a woman walked straight to Elizabeth's desk and tampered with the box. They were faxing over a picture of Erin Cruz as they were speaking.

Garcia was entering the room with the photo and with the details she was able to finally obtain from hacking the hospital's database. "Erin Cruz was in foster care until she was five when a family decided to adopted her. She was doing well until she turned thirteen and she started having crazy mood swings and threatening to kill the family and herself. When word got back to Elizabeth, she didn't want anybody to get hurt, so she agreed to pay the fees for the hospital so Erin wouldn't be a danger to herself or anyone else." She handed the photo to Rossi.

"She looks just like the description the boy gave," Rossi said. "If Erin killed Elizabeth, she won't hesitate to kill Emily if she gets the chance. She hasn't been able to get close because she's always been with one of us. We need to keep it that way until we find Erin. She's had twenty seven years to figure out how she would exact revenge and she has nothing left to lose."

"We need to get to Emily's apartment," Derek said.

Rossi was already putting his coat on. "Garcia, do me a favor. Send JJ that photo and have her blast it all over the news. Erin needs to know we're on to her."

As Morgan and Rossi were making their way to Emily's apartment, Rossi called Hotch and Reid on conference call to fill them in. Aaron and stepped out of the room to join Reid and get some fresh air since Emily was finally sleeping. He didn't want to risk the chance of waking her by talking on the phone. What he failed to realize as he was leaving Emily's room was that somebody had been watching them and waiting for just that moment…

* * *

Erin was wearing light blue scrubs to blend in with the professional crowd as she made her way to Emily's room. She smiled with wide eyes as she saw her sister laying in the hospital bed. She slowly walked to the bed and reached her hand out to Emily's hair, gently moving her hair out of her face. "You're so beautiful," she whispered, "It's a shame that Mom couldn't love both of us. I would have loved to have a little sister."

Emily had heard someone enter her room and she thought it was Aaron, but when she heard her voice… she knew. She kept her eyes closed and feigned sleep until she felt the unmistakable feeling of cold metal against her temple.

Erin forced a menacing laugh as she saw the fear in Emily's eyes. "Don't worry little sis, I'm not going to kill you… yet." She moved the gun to point it at Emily's belly. "Now rip your IV out and follow me or I swear I'll pull this trigger."

Emily felt bile rise in her throat and she swallowed heavily to keep it down. She had no way of letting Aaron know what was going on without putting her baby's life in danger. She didn't know what to do and Erin was thrilled to see the fear and contemplation her sister's face.

"Now!"

* * *

Morgan and Rossi had filled Hotch in on what was going on and finished just in time as they were pulling up to Emily's place. There were no signs that anybody was home, all the lights were off, the blood stains had been washed off the concrete due to the rain, and the curtains look how Emily always left them. With their weapons drawn, they proceeded to enter with the spare key that Morgan had. She had given in to him in the instance of an emergency and he hoped to never use it, but this was definitely a circumstance where it was necessary. When they entered the apartment, there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary. Emily lived a simple home life and had recently been spending more time at Aaron's, so the place was unusually tidy. When they cleared the house they decided to search the bedroom first.

The room seemed pristine and looked like Emily had just made the bed this morning. The comforter was pin straight without a wrinkle. Emily never made her bed. Derek pulled back the comforter to reveal a large white poster board with the words "I win" written in red marker.

"She hasn't won anything," Derek said with confusion, "Not if Emily is who she's after. There's no way she could get Emily alone and she knows that."

"Which is why she needed to get her to a hospital… call Hotch!" Rossi quickly left the room and ran down the stairs with Morgan right behind him. Rossi hopped into the driver's seat and turned the lights and sirens on.

"Hotch, where are you?" Derek asked.

"Reid and I are in the cafeteria getting coffee, what have you got?"

"Hotch, get back to Emily, now."

Hotch didn't need to be told twice and he gestured for Reid to follow him. "What's going on?"

"I'll explain when we get there, we're on our way."

Hotch sprinted down the hallway to Emily's room with Reid right behind him. If Erin was on her way to the hospital he would be waiting happily with a loaded gun. He froze as he rounded the corner and saw that Emily's bed was empty and her IV line was hanging to the floor. There was a small pool of blood on the white sheet where she must have pulled it out. Aaron could feel his heart beating against his ribcage and he was sure the temperature rose five degrees as sweat started beating against his hairline.

"Emily Prentiss," Reid demanded at the nurse's station, "She was in room twelve and now she's gone. She's an agent with FBI. Did you see her leave with anyone?"

The two nurses shook their heads no. "The last time I saw her was when I was making rounds on my patients. She wasn't one of mine there was a nurse in her room about ten minutes ago."

"Can you describe her?"

"I only saw the back of her head but she had long dark brown hair."

Reid slammed his hand down against the counter before turning back to Hotch who was still standing in the doorway. "Hotch…"

"I shouldn't have left her alone."

Reid was going to comfort his friend when his phone started ringing. "She's gone Derek," Reid informed him. "We came back and she was gone."

 **Zhangxinna – You have a lot of great questions that I hope were answered! I am so happy to see your enthusiasm in this fic and thank you so, so much for the review!**

 **To both guests who reviewed Ch. 5 – Thank you so much! Your comments really mean so much to me and I am so happy you are enjoying the read!**

 **To everyone else reading – thank you for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

Emily wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious. The last thing she remembered was being thrown into a car and everything after that was just a blank space. She looked around the room, looking for anything that could indicate where she was at. It just seemed like a normal house to her except she was tied to a chair and couldn't move. Erin was nowhere in sight. She blinked her eyes a few times to try and get rid of the blurriness. Her head felt fuzzy and full of rocks. She wondered what kind of drugs Erin had forced into her body and if they would have any harmful side effects on the baby.

Emily didn't know if she should yell for help or if calling for someone would just alert Erin that she was awake. Her mouth felt like cotton and she wasn't sure how loud her voice would be anyway. She was panicking. She could feel her breathing quicken as her mind raced to think of an escape plan. She had to do something. She struggled against the rope to try and free her hands but every time she had leverage she felt the rope pull tight against her abdomen. She let out a sob. "Why are you doing this?!" Her voice resonated loudly throughout the house, surprising herself and Erin.

Emily jerked her head up to the steps where she heard footsteps. She watched as Erin's smile grew bigger with every step she took down the stairs. Seeing Emily in such a panic was really getting her off. When Erin was standing three feet away from Emily, she laughed. "Em, little sis, you think that everything is always about you. You got everything you ever wanted. You had a mother who loved you, a great job with a team willing to do anything to protect you. Speaking of which, I bet they're having a real tough time now since… well, here you are."

"I didn't even know I had a sister," Emily said through gritted teeth. She could feel her blood pressure rising with every word that Erin spoke.

"Of course not," Erin said, "Mom never told anyone. That's why it was so easy to hop onto that plane and follow her over here. You see, all it takes is one letter from a global ambassador and they'll let anyone out of anywhere. Especially when they offer up five thousand dollars. There were no questions asked."

"You killed our mother."

"The bitch had it coming," Erin said angrily. "How could she give me up, but keep you? That's not fair."

"It's not fair," Emily agreed, "but it wasn't my fault either." She watched as Erin's face went tight with rage and contemplation. Maybe, just maybe Emily could convince her that she was innocent in all of this as well and she would let her go. "I would have done something to help you," she said gently, "I would have loved to have a big sister."

Erin stood up and stepped closer to Emily until she was only inches away. Emily thought she was going to untie her and was shocked when she felt the sting of a pistol whip against her cheek. She let out a cry.

"You took my mother away from me," Erin said. Her eyes dark and unfocused. "It's only fair that I take your baby away from you."

"You won't live long enough to hurt my baby," Emily argued, "My team will have a bullet in your brain sooner than you know."

Erin let out a hearty laugh. "I don't see them getting her any time soon. Besides, who's to say I didn't already harm the baby? You have no idea what I did while you were unconscious. What kind of drugs I put into your body…" She started pacing the floor of the room they were in. "You know, you're smart, Emily, I'll give you that." She stopped pacing when she came to an old picture that was still hanging in a frame on the wall. She pointed at it. "But I'm smarter. I've had twenty-seven years to plan this out. Every last detail. I knew you would get pregnant eventually. Anyone who was hurt as a little girl always thinks they'll be better parents. I knew it would only be a matter of time."

"How did you find out I was pregnant?"

"Well," Erin said enthusiastically as she knocked the picture of a young Emily to the floor, "I had computer access when I turned twenty. Good behavior gets you rewarded. I took up hacking. It's really not that hard once you learn the basics. I hacked Mom's cell phone a few years ago so every call, every text message, when straight to my inbox. You two didn't talk much. That call though, I was listening."

"She wasn't supposed to be here yet," Emily said. Things still were not adding up to her.

"Oh, I know, but I couldn't wait any longer. I was too excited. I decided to call her. I warned her what was going to happen, but what she didn't realize was that it was all part of the plan. Nothing she could have done to warn you would have changed it."

Emily was pissed and scared and wanted to cry and scream. She was praying that Aaron and the team would show up soon. She knew he was worried; knew they were all worried. That's why they were all a family. She couldn't bear the thought of putting them through her funeral… again. She didn't want to be the cause of their pain.

* * *

"The security cameras on the third floor show Erin stepping off the elevator and going into Emily's room, but they cut out before she leaves. Erin really thought about how to cover her tracks," JJ said.

"If she followed Elizabeth here then she's only been in the area for three days. She would need someplace to take Emily to. We have a BOLO on the car Erin is driving and Garcia is working on checking all of the hotels in the radius," Rossi added.

Reid was busy placing all of their information into the bulletin board and seeing if he could find any patterns. Erin Cruz wasn't a rational person and her actions should be able to give him something, anything that would help them find Emily.

Aaron was sitting at the conference table attempting to listen but everything was going in one ear and out the other. His mind was focused on Emily. Focused on the way she was resting against his body just last night on the couch. About how peaceful she had looked when she was finally asleep. About how she had been the one to defuse the bomb and save them all. He thought about their baby growing in her belly and smiled at the thought of her getting a baby belly that he could rub and talk to. If he had the chance to kill Erin, he was going to take it.

"Hotch? Hotch!" Morgan had been trying to get his attention for the past two minutes.

"What?"

"We need your head in this. I know that you love Emily, but she needs you focused so we can find her. We need to know if she has any place in DC besides her apartment that has significance to her. Anything she has mentioned in conversation. Does she visit anywhere on her days off?"

"She hasn't mentioned anything. She's with me in her free time and we don't really go anywhere. She likes to be at home."

"I've got something!" Garcia entered the conference room with her laptop in one hand and a large coffee in the other. She took a seat by JJ and started putting the information on the overhead screen.

"In 1982, Elizabeth bought a house in a small town just outside of the district. They lived there until 1990 before they moved, but Elizabeth never sold the house. Erin would have been thirteen which is when she was taken to the psychiatric facility. If she knows about that property in any way, she could have taken Emily there."

"Emily never mentioned living in the area before," Hotch said.

"She never mentioned it to me before either," Morgan added.

Garcia's face grew even sadder. She really didn't want to be sharing Emily's private information with the rest of the team. She typed for a second on the keyboard before pulling up a few police reports to share with them. "She probably didn't want to share this information with anyone," she explained followed by a hard swallow. "There are several police reports where a ten-year-old girl called 911 because her father was beating her and her mother was too drunk to do anything about it. The police always went to the scene, but the father would be gone when they got there and Elizabeth knew the right things to say."

Hotch couldn't bring himself to read the reports so he averted his eyes. His heart was hurting thinking of Emily being so hurt at such a young age. It was no wonder her walls were built so high. It took years for him to be able to find a door and still, sometimes, he could see that it was hard for her to let him in. It was one of her more stubborn qualities, but now, he understood. He also understood why she had never shared that with anyone. It's easier to block out the painful memories than to relive them by sharing.

"On the third call in September of '89, police arrived and the Emily had suffered a broken arm and her eye was so swollen that she couldn't see out of it. The cops took her father to prison and that's when Elizabeth's search began for a new place."

"She was only nine," Rossi said sadly.

Garcia nodded. "The records are a matter of public knowledge if you know the right place to look. If Erin had access to a computer, she could have found the address."

"Let's go." Hotch was leading the way.


	8. Chapter 8

"If you're going to kill me… can you at least answer some of my questions first?"

Erin slammed the glass of water she had been drinking down on the counter as she glared at Emily from her place in the kitchen. "Sure," she smirked, "go ahead." She made her way back into the living room and leaned against the wall directly in front of Emily.

"I remember you as Kaitlyn. I remember mom telling us that we were cousins. I remember you comforting me when mom and dad were fighting." Her eyes glossed over at the memories she struggled for so long to try and forget.

"I'm not hearing a question."

"Then one day you were just gone. What happened?"

Erin scoffed. "Don't pretend you don't know."

Emily was confused because she genuinely had no recollection. She never remembered her mother giving an explanation and she never recalled asking for one. "I don't know…"

Emily watched Erin's face and for a brief moment she saw the pain swimming in her eyes as the anger dissipated. It didn't last long.

"I tried to protect you," Erin said through gritted teeth as she pushed herself off the wall and raged toward Emily. "All I wanted was for you to be safe! When I said that I would kill everyone, I didn't mean you! I did it all for you! You were so little and you never fought back. Why didn't you fight back?!" Tears were pouring from Erin's wild eyes and Emily knew she had reached her.

"I didn't… I never realized… I'm so sorry." And she was. She was sorry that she hadn't realized sooner that Erin was her sister. She was sorry that she hadn't questioned her mother more about her childhood. And she was sorry that her friends were standing right outside the door and at the open windows with their guns pointed right at her.

"I tried to tell the doctors at the facility that I was just trying to protect you… that I didn't mean I was actually going to kill anyone." Erin wiped her tears and moved to sit on the couch where she buried her head in her hands. Emily took the opportunity to shake her head at her team, signaling for them to hold back until she was ready. Erin sniffed, "but when you're in a mental facility nobody believes you. Every word that comes out of your mouth is 'crazy.' You want to know the saddest part?" She didn't wait for Emily to answer. "It was a Tuesday when I was placed in the hospital. The day before, at school, I told my teacher that you were being abused. She asked why I had been walking to school by myself the previous week. I told her that you had a black eye and a broken arm and our parents didn't want anyone to know."

Emily could feel her heart breaking. She only vaguely remembered the events and she had tried so hard to block them out completely that trying to remember was only causing her more pain.

"She called the police. They were going to come to the house Tuesday afternoon for a welfare check, but it was too late." Erin swiped away at her tears. She was avoiding eye contact with Emily now, almost as if she was afraid to see the emotion on her face.

"I don't remember any of this," Emily whispered through her own tears.

"I know," Erin smiled sadly, "because you were punished for what I did." She took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. The team were still hidden, their guns still drawn at the ready, but they didn't know how much more of Emily's childhood they could take.

"When welfare showed up, they cleared everything. Mom told them you fell down the stairs and that's why you had the broken arm and black eye. When the lady left… dad beat you so hard… you ended up in the hospital. That was the night he went to prison. Mom never stood up for you, Emily. She never stood up for me either. She needed to pay for what she let happen."

Now the tears were streaming down both of their cheeks. Emily did remember being in the hospital when she was younger. She remembered waking up and feeling pain course throughout her tiny, damaged body. She remembered asking her mom what had happened, but receiving no answer. She remembered the nightmares she had for years following the incident. She remembered her mother telling her to just get over the nightmares because that is all they were: a bad dream.

"I never asked about you…" Emily whispered.

"I know," Erin said sadly. She reached to the sofa pillow that was next to her and placed her hand behind it. The team grew more cautious and placed their fingers on the triggers of their guns, ready to pull if necessary.

"I'm sorry," Emily said.

"I know." Erin pulled a gun out from behind the pillow.

"Erin Cruz! Don't move!" Aaron was the first person to show himself, stepping in through the hallway and pointing his gun straight at Erin while avoiding making eye contact with Emily. He knew that if he looked at her, his judgement would be clouded. He couldn't risk looking at her and losing his focus on saving her.

But Emily knew…. She knew that Erin was not going to harm her. She was suddenly all too aware of what was about to happen, but before she could open her mouth the shot had been fired and blood was splattered all over her face and her clothes. The warm, gooey feeling sticking to her cheeks and making her clothes stick to her body. She couldn't move. She had seen her fair share of murders before. Had witnessed people being killed in gruesome ways… had seen the unimaginable, but this was worse. This was someone who lived their entire life trying to protect her and she barely knew them. Now all that was left was a cold dead body stuck in a pool of oozing blood.

The rest of the team had filed in at this point, rushing to Emily's side. Rossi worked quick to untie her while Derek went to Hotch's side, just as stunned as he was. They hadn't seen it coming. They had been so worried that she was going to hurt Emily…

"She was never going to hurt me," Emily whispered. She still had yet to take her eyes off of the scene before her. "She just wanted to die knowing that she wasn't alone…"


End file.
